Mariners complete sweep of Padres

Ichiro Suzuki drove in two runs in the seventh inning and the
Mariners added an unearned run in the ninth off Hoffman to
complete a three-game sweep of the San Diego Padres with a 4-3
victory on Sunday.

It was the first time the Padres have been swept in a three-game
series at home this season.

"Three good games, but we came out on the short end of them,"
Padres manager Bud Black said. "Tough ones when you lose them
late. We've had our share the other way, and over the course of
the season these things happen."

Seattle pushed across the winning run in the ninth against
Hoffman (2-3), baseball's all-time saves leader who recorded No.
500 on Thursday night.

Willie Bloomquist led off by reaching on third baseman Kevin
Kouzmanoff's error, was sacrificed to second base and stole
third. He scored the go-ahead run on Jose Lopez's soft ground
ball to second base.

"I just had a good jump (on the stolen base)," Bloomquist said.
"It was a guy I thought I could get. If I get momentum as he's
lifting his leg and I know he's going to the plate, and I think
I can get it, I'm going."

Hoffman indicated that he was caught off guard by the stolen
base attempt, and had gone into his trademark high leg-kick to
deliver the pitch.

"It's worse to have it happen that way, because you got beat
mentally," Hoffman said. "Anybody can accept physical mistakes,
but when they get the best of you and get the extra base
without having to do anything, it's on me. I wouldn't have gone
into a high leg-kick if I thought he was stealing."

J.J. Putz pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his 18th save. Miguel
Batista (7-4) got the win with one inning of scoreless relief.

"Our guys battled the whole time," Seattle manager Mike Hargrove
said. "No matter what the situation or what was going on,
there was always a push there from everybody. The guys on the
bench, the guys on the field, the guys in the bullpen came in
and did their jobs."

Young, who had given up just two earned runs in five home
starts, allowed three in this one over 6 2/3 innings. The 6-10
righthander gave up seven hits, while striking out three and not
walking a batter.

"That's the way the game goes," Young said. "I made a couple of
mistakes and it cost us some runs. I felt like I threw the
ball pretty well. It was just little things."

Seattle, which has won 12 of 16, took an early lead when
starting pitcher Felix Hernandez reached on a bunt single - his
first major-league hit - to plate Jamie Burke.

San Diego answered with three runs in the fourth on a solo shot
by Mike Cameron and Terrmel Sledge's two-run blast.

Hernandez finished the day allowing three runs in six innings on
seven hits. The 21-year-old righthander walked one and
collected six strikeouts.

"The last month or month and a half or so, we've been playing
that kind of baseball," Bloomquist said. "Everybody's
contributing, and we're not trying to do too much, just do their
role or their job.

"When we do that, we're a pretty good team. It seems to be
someone new every night getting it done."

San Diego had won 10 of 12 prior to the sweep at home, its first
since August 14-17 against San Francisco last year.

"If you look back, we had a chance to win all three games,"
Young said. "We're not playing bad baseball by any means."

MLAT SAN DIEGO - SCORING UPDATETWO-RUN HOME RUN BY TERRMEL SLEDGE (5) TO LEFT CENTER WITH 2 OUT IN THE 4TH OFF FELIX HERNANDEZ SCORED KHALIL GREENE.CURRENT SCORE: SEATTLE 1, SAN DIEGO 3DUE UP FOR SAN DIEGO: C YOUNG (.100, 0-FOR-1)

MLAT SAN DIEGO - SCORING UPDATESOLO HOME RUN BY MIKE CAMERON (6) TO LEFT CENTER WITH 1 OUT IN THE 4TH OFF FELIX HERNANDEZ.CURRENT SCORE: SEATTLE 1, SAN DIEGO 1DUE UP FOR SAN DIEGO: K KOUZMANOFF (.215, 0-FOR-1)